


truth be told

by DarknessChill



Series: touch-starved [2]
Category: Julie and The Phantoms (TV)
Genre: F/M, Gen, the boys are only sometimes solid
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-22
Updated: 2020-09-22
Packaged: 2021-03-07 22:00:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,494
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26604847
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DarknessChill/pseuds/DarknessChill
Summary: Julie knows the guys are right.If she tells her dad the truth, they don’t need to worry about hiding on the occasions that they’re visible. She doesn’t have to worry about her dad thinking she’s talking to herself when he walks in on them. She doesn’t have to try and explain holograms – a subject she knows very little about, considering – to her dad like she’s the expert she’s pretending to be.And, most importantly, she can stop lying to him.Julie isn’t good at keeping secrets from her dad, and with the boys randomly becoming visible, it’s just a matter of time before this secret blows up in her face like all the others.
Relationships: Alex & Julie Molina & Luke Patterson & Reggie, Julie Molina & Ray Molina, Julie Molina/Luke Patterson
Series: touch-starved [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1935412
Comments: 55
Kudos: 1041





	truth be told

Considering how randomly the boys seem to become solid, it really shouldn't be a surprise to Julie that it happens one day without any of them realizing until it’s too late.

Carlos walks down the stairs on a Saturday afternoon to find her and Reggie on the couch, working their way through season 1 of The Good Place, and he stops suddenly on the bottom step, staring at his sister and the not-empty space on the couch next to her.

"Hey, little man," Reggie greets as per usual, expecting no response, but instead, Carlos's eyes shift from his sister to her bandmate and then back to his sister.

"Julie... why can I see your ghost bassist?" he finally asks.

Julie blinks, reaching over and grabbing Reggie's arm, and - sure enough. She tightens her grip a bit as Reggie grins.

"Hey, I can say hi for real then." He waves.

"Hi," Carlos says, walking over. "Julie--"

"They're becoming solid to me randomly. As far as we can tell, when they're solid to me, they're visible to everyone else."

Carlos nods in understanding. "Okay, sure, but - dad doesn't _know_ about them being ghosts, right?"

"Right..." Julie starts, and then it hits her suddenly. "And he'll be home any second. Reggie--"

Reggie shifts away from her reluctantly to teleport off, but she shakes her head. "No, I'm coming with you," she says, not releasing her grip on his arm. "Carlos, tell dad I'm in the studio if he asks?"

"Sure," Carlos nods, sitting down on the couch as they stand up to watch the show they were abandoning. "Can I hang out with your ghost friends later?"

"Any time," Reggie promises him. "Even if you can't see us, if we're there we'll make sure you know."

Carlos grins, nodding, and Reggie throws a thumbs up in his direction as he and Julie quickly escape the house.

*

Luke looks up from his guitar as they enter the garage, blinking. "I thought you were watching The Good Space?”

“The Good _Place_ ,” Julie corrects lightly, rolling her eyes and lifting Reggie’s wrist. “Reggie went solid and visible and my dad will be home soon.”

Luke frowns, “That’s weird.”

“What’s weird?” Julie blinks. “You guys go solid all the time now.”

“No, not that,” Luke shakes his head, putting his guitar down and walking over to them, offering Julie his arm. A bit confused, she reaches out – but goes straight through him.

“Wait, you’re _not_ solid?” Reggie blinks.

“It’s not like we know how this works or have _anything_ to base it off of.” Luke pauses. “Shows about fake afterlives do not count.”

Reggie just shrugs. “It’s a _good_ show about a fake afterlife.”

Luke’s retort is cut off by Alex appearing in the garage, smiling when he sees them. “Hey – I thought you were watching—”

Julie interrupts before he can finish his sentence. “Reggie’s visible and I can’t exactly have my dad catch me sitting on the couch with one of my hologram band members.”

Alex glances over at Luke and then back to Julie and Reggie. “I mean… you could.”

Julie shoots him a questioning look, wincing as her hand suddenly clamps shut around nothing, and offering the newly intangible Reggie a smile as she sits down on the piano bench.

“You could finally tell him the truth about us, is all I’m saying,” Alex says, leaning against the piano.

“No, I really can’t.” Julie shakes her head.

“Julie,” Luke cuts in. “We’re solid often enough that we can prove you aren’t crazy, and… won’t it be easier if you don’t need to pretend we’re not in the room whenever your dad walks in?”

Julie lets out a sigh. “And how do _you_ think my dad will react to finding out three teenage boys live in his garage?”

“Dead teenage boys,” Reggie reminds her.

Julie grimaces. “Right, thanks for the reminder.”

“Flynn and Carlos already know,” Luke presses. “Wouldn’t you rather your dad find out because you told him and not because we suddenly appear in his living room one day?”

Julie groans. “Can we just… not talk about this right now?”

Alex and Luke exchange a quick glance, and Luke opens his mouth to press a little more, but when Julie looks up at him, he sighs. “Alright, fine, boss. Since we’re all here, should we go ahead and get some practice in?”

Julie shoots him a grateful smile, nodding. “Practice sounds great. Thanks.”

*

A light knock on her bedroom door pulls Julie away from her phone later that evening, and she glances up, calling, "Come in."

Luke pokes his head through the door, offering her an apologetic smile. "Hey."

"Oh, hey," Julie shifts, locking her phone before gesturing him the rest of the way in.

He steps through the door, walking over and sitting down next to her on the bed when she pats the spot next to her.

"Sorry about... pushing you earlier," he says. "I get it, I do - I just think..."

He trails off, and Julie smiles. "You didn't push me about my dad any more than I pushed you about your parents," she reassures him. "It's just hard - if he doesn't believe me, then what do I do?"

"He'll believe you," Luke assures her. "Even if we can't go solid to prove it, we can do the same thing we did with Flynn - plus, you have both her and Carlos to back you up."

Julie smiles wryly. "And if he _does_ believe me? Then what do I do?"

"What do you mean?" Luke frowns.

"When he finds out that three ghosts live in mom's studio. Up to this point, he thought you were friends that lived somewhere else. I have no idea how he's going to react to finding out you _actually_ live in the garage."

Luke reaches over to try and take her hand, but passes straight through. Wincing, he quickly speaks before it gets awkward. "Honestly, he seems like he'd be cool with it."

Julie bites her lip. "I mean, I hope so, but..."

"You're afraid to find out," Luke guesses.

Julie nods.

Luke hesitates, but before he can second guess himself, quickly says, "That's how I feel about going to talk to my parents."

Julie startles, glancing over.

"I -" he swallows. "I _want_ to talk to them. But if they're finally content, happy - if they've finally moved on - then the last thing I want to do is be selfish and ruin that."

"Luke..." Julie reaches towards his hand but stills when she remembers he's not solid at the moment, continuing instead. "I understand that, but - even though I'm moving forward, moving on, I would still give _anything_ to talk to my mom again. Don’t you think they’d be happy to know that _you’re_ happy?”

Luke smiles a little. “Yeah, I mean… I guess.” He pauses, wishing he could take her hand, but continues anyway. “But isn’t it the same with your dad – don’t you think _he’ll_ be happy to know you’re happy?”

Julie bites her lip. “Are you pushing my own advice back onto me?”

Luke shrugs. “Maybe a little.”

Julie swallows, sighing. “Alright. I’ll think about it, at least.”

*

Julie knows the guys are right.

If she tells her dad the truth, they don’t need to worry about hiding on the occasions that they’re visible. She doesn’t have to worry about her dad thinking she’s talking to herself when he walks in on them. She doesn’t have to try and explain holograms – a subject she knows _very little about_ , considering – to her dad like she’s the expert she’s pretending to be.

And, most importantly, she can stop lying to him.

She’s _never_ kept secrets from her dad. She’s tried, sure, but every time she’s lied, it’s blown up in her face in some spectacular fashion. Her mom had called it the Molina family curse once – no matter how well-intentioned the secret, it will come out, and it will come out explosively.

But knowing she _should_ tell her dad and having the courage to _actually_ _tell her dad_ are two extremely different things. 

This isn’t a Christmas gift she’s doing her best to hide or a class she’s slept through – there are three (dead) teenagers living in his garage that he has no idea about.

These cycling thoughts keep her in bed for most of Sunday morning, and it’s Alex that finally comes to find her at 11:30, knocking lightly and walking straight through the door when she groans out a, “Go away.”

“You look like you didn’t sleep at all,” Alex comments from by the doorway.

Julie sighs, pulling her head out from under the covers. “What do you want?”

“Well,” Alex walks over, sitting down on the edge of the bed. “Luke said you were pretty upset last night and then you didn’t show up in the studio at all this morning – so I figured I’d find you here.” He pauses, but Julie just silently buries her head back under the covers. “Want to talk about it?”

“Not really,” Julie answers, muffled by her comforter.

Alex quirks a smile a bit at that. “ _Should_ you talk about it?”

Julie just groans again, attempting to kick him to dislodge him from the bed, but instead just sending her leg straight through his abdomen.

“Rude,” Alex comments. “Look, if you really want me to go—"

Julie sighs again, cutting him off. “No, don’t. Sorry.” She shifts up in bed, leaning her head on her knees. “Can I ask a stupid question?”

“Anything you want.” Alex nods.

“Do you _want_ my dad to know about you?” Julie glances up at him.

Alex pauses, frowning. “I mean… he does already know _about_ us – just not the specifics, right?”

“He thinks you’re holograms when we perform and that you live far enough away that he’ll probably never meet you,” Julie answers. “So, not really. But that doesn’t answer my question – do _you_ want my dad to know?”

Alex leans back a bit on the bed, glancing towards the door. “Yeah, I do. I think it’d be nice if he did.” He looks back over at Julie. “I mean, Reggie already loves hanging out with him.”

“I noticed that,” Julie frowns, biting her lip.

“And we can all tell how much he loves you and Carlos. It’d be good to have an opportunity to get to know him better,” Alex shrugs. “Even if he usually can’t see us.”

Julie nods. “Alright. Thank you.”

Alex offers a smile. “Want me to lie and tell the guys you’re okay?”

Julie rolls her eyes, kicking through his abdomen again. “I’m _fine_.”

“One of these days, I’m going to be solid and you’ll actually kick me,” Alex warns.

Julie shrugs, smiling a little bit, and Alex just laughs.

*

Alex leaves her alone to get dressed a few minutes later, and Julie drags herself up, throwing on some vaguely presentable clothes, tying her hair back into a ponytail, and trudging down the stairs to see if anyone’s around. She knows Carlos has practice on Sunday afternoons, but her dad…

Sure enough, he’s sitting at his desk, deep in concentration, with Reggie perched on the chair behind him making idle comments occasionally about whatever her dad is working on.

Julie clears her throat in the doorway, catching their attention.

“Hey Julie!” Reggie grins.

Julie smiles in his direction.

“Afternoon, _mija_ – you feeling okay?” Her dad greets, abandoning the computer to walk over to her.

“I’m okay,” Julie promises. “Guess I just needed the sleep.”

Her dad nods in understanding. “You hungry?”

“Yeah, I’ll get something in a bit,” Julie answers, hesitating before glancing at Reggie and then back at her dad. “Do you… have a few minutes?”

“Of course,” her dad answers. “Everything okay?”

“Yeah.” Julie nods. “I just need to tell you something – about the guys. The band.”

Reggie’s eyes widen a bit and he nods in understanding. “I’ll tell the guys,” he promises, vanishing from the room.

Taking a breath to try and steel herself, she turns to her dad. “I wasn’t… entirely truthful about them,” she says, trying to think of the best way to approach this. “But it’s a lot easier to show you… can you meet me in the studio in like five minutes?”

Her dad frowns, but nods. “Okay, whatever you need.”

Julie shoots him a smile. “Thanks, dad.”

*

She ducks into the studio a minute later, all three ghosts immediately rounding on her.

“Did you tell him?” Luke asks.

“Did he take it well? He had to have taken it well, right?” Reggie adds.

“Guys!” Julie cuts in. “No, not yet.”

“But—” Reggie starts.

Julie cuts him off before he can continue. “If I just blurt out that you guys are ghosts like I did with Flynn, it’s not going to go well,” she insists. “He’ll be here in five minutes – can we please think up a plan before then? I don’t suppose any of you are feeling particularly solid right now?”

“Like we’d really be that lucky?” Luke asks her. “We’ll just perform, like we did for Flynn. Maybe we’ll end up going solid in the middle, but even if we don’t, you should be able to prove your point.”

Julie nods, swallowing around the lump in her throat.

“Hey.” Luke steps over to her, smiling reassuringly. “It’s going to be okay. He’ll believe you.”

Julie glances up at him, nodding. “What should we play?”

“What do you feel like playing?” Alex asks.

Julie shakes her head. “Please don’t make me make decisions right now.”

“Got it,” Luke cuts in, smiling reassuringly. “The first song he saw us perform was Finally Free, right? How about that?”

Julie nods. “Okay. Okay, that’s good.”

“Julie,” Luke interrupts her racing thoughts. “It’s going to be _fine_.”

Before Julie can say anything else, the garage doors open, letting her dad in.

“Hey, all good out here?” he asks. “I thought I heard you talking.”

Julie takes a deep breath, Luke offering her a reassuring smile before heading over to his guitar, and turns around to face him. “You did – I was. I was talking to the guys, actually.”

“Oh, are they on the phone, or something—”

“Not exactly,” Julie interrupts. “This is going to sound crazy – I _know_ it sounds crazy – but can you please hear me out?”

Her dad frowns, concerned. “Of course.”

Julie bites her lip. “Dad, the other members of the band are ghosts. Not holograms.”

She waits to see if he reacts, but his eyes just narrow a little – not in disbelief, but the way they do when he’s thinking, piecing things together. Pushing her nerves to the back of her mind, she shifts so that she’s sitting in front of him and takes another deep breath.

And suddenly, the right words for the explanation come to her, the tension in her shoulders eases as she tells her dad the whole story, and he listens, _believing her_ without even needing proof.

**Author's Note:**

> It's a series now! I honestly have no idea how many connected oneshots there will be but whenever I write one, it'll be here.


End file.
